Why this ride
146 km from Benimassot to Benimassot, about 2 h 57 of riding. The stops in between: Barran de Parets, Barranc del Xorquet and back through Barran de Parets. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
L'Esmoladora and Barranc del Xorquet
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 146 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 57
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. L'Esmoladora
The Serra de Mariola is a mountain of herbs. Its slopes smell of thyme, rosemary, sage and a score of other aromatic plants that people have gathered for centuries to make teas, liqueurs and remedies, and the natural park that protects it has become a favourite of walkers who like to crush a leaf between their fingers. L'Esmoladora lies a little way east of that range, in the hills between Planes and Beniarrés, a country of terraced slopes and small reservoirs that spreads out towards the plain of Alcoi.
Read the complete L'Esmoladora write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
L'Esmoladora is where the day begins. Next is Barran de Parets.
2. Barran de Parets
The Vall d'Ebo is a pocket of mountains behind the Costa Blanca where the sea is only half an hour away, yet the villages look as if they belong to another century. Adsubia and Vall d'Ebo are tiny settlements of a few hundred people, in a landscape of steep ravines, terraces and bare limestone walls. The Valencian word barranc, a ravine, is on the map everywhere, and each one has its own name. The Barranc de l'Infern, the Hell Ravine, nearby, is a famed walk on a path of thousands of stone steps that the Moriscos, Muslim farmers, built to link villages. They were expelled in 1609, and the terraces and steps are a legacy of their work.
Read the complete Barran de Parets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barran de Parets comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
3. Barranc del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc del Xorquet. Next is back through Barran de Parets.
4. back through Barran de Parets
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barran de Parets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barran de Parets, late in the day. Next is L'Esmoladora.
5. L'Esmoladora
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete L'Esmoladora write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at L'Esmoladora. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
L'Esmoladora to Barran de Parets
L'Esmoladora → Barran de Parets is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barran de Parets to Barranc del Xorquet
Barran de Parets → Barranc del Xorquet is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet to back through Barran de Parets
Barranc del Xorquet → back through Barran de Parets is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barran de Parets to L'Esmoladora
back through Barran de Parets → L'Esmoladora is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.